Attorney General Shapiro pushes to improve reporting of opioid deaths

Wednesday

Nov 29, 2017 at 5:10 PMNov 29, 2017 at 5:10 PM

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that there has been a lack of consistency among the state's 67 coroners and medical examiners on how they are reporting opioid overdose deaths.

Patrick O'Shea @NewsAddict2

NEW CASTLE — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that there has been a lack of consistency among the state's 67 coroners and medical examiners on how they are reporting opioid overdose deaths.

Noting he is not singling anyone out or criticizing the coroners in any way, Shapiro, speaking at the Lawrence County Courthouse, said it is important to push for greater standards in reporting the deaths so health and law enforcement officials can correctly identify where help is needed and for the public to be properly informed on what is going on in their communities.

Shapiro said he came across one report where it said an individual had died of "a marijuana overdose." He said that was not actually the case. "It was not a marijuana overdose, it was the fentanyl mixed with the marijuana, but that was the way it was recorded," Shapiro said.

He said there needs to be general standards on how these deaths are reported so information from counties can be compared equally.

But Shapiro said it is often not the coroners' fault because they are lacking the technological resources, such as computers, they need to properly file information in the reports such as the many drug interactions that often are involved in the overdoses. He said he has offered money to the state's coroners association to help with technology upgrades, but no one has taken him up on the offer yet.

Shapiro said approximately 4,600 Pennsylvanians died last year from opioid overdoses, which is nearly 13 people per day. However, he said those numbers could be even higher because of the issues with reporting.

Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said there have been 50 overdose deaths already this year in his county, up from 39 last year. He said 78 percent of them were fentanyl-related, 50 percent involved cocaine and 38 percent heroin. Noga said it is not uncommon for drug tests to turn up eight to 14 toxic chemicals in individuals at one time.

Noga said he has never seen anything like this epidemic before, noting at the height of when overdoses were occurring from prescription drugs the county had 29 deaths. Those numbers went down when legislation was enacted to more closely monitor prescriptions, but that likely led to people seeking out other sources such as heroin, and the start of the current situation, he said.

Beaver County Coroner David Gabauer did not return a call for comment on Shapiro's talk, but noted last week that although his county saw a dip in numbers for a few months, the number of fatal drug overdoses have picked up again in the last few weeks. He did not provide a current year number, but said more than 200 have died from drug overdoses in the last two years. The county lost 102 people to overdoses last year.

Speaking after a roundtable discussion Wednesday morning with Lawrence County officials, including Noga, about the prevalence of opioid overdoses in Pennsylvania, Shapiro urged legislators, state officials and leaders in counties to push for efforts to battle the epidemic.

"The only way we deal with this epidemic is to work together," he said.

Shapiro said his role Wednesday was to listen to the concerns of officials, including all three county commissioners, two state legislators, Noga, the county's district attorney, sheriff and president judge, as well as New Castle's police chief, and take that information back to Harrisburg. He said the big concerns laid out included the lack of treatment options, the need for more law enforcement members and the strain on the county's budget of combating the epidemic.

Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-47, New Sewickley Township, who was on the panel, also talked about the burnout that is occurring among emergency personnel who often have to revive the same person five or six times. He said some of the emergency medical technicians have told him about "Narcan parties" where a group shoots up while someone with the opioid overdose revival drug stands by. "They are getting tired of it," Vogel said. "And some day they are going to say screw it."

Shapiro said it is going to take a lot of work to stop the problem. He said 1,199 drug dealers have been arrested by his department in the last year, more than three per day, but he said that is not enough.

"We are just fooling ourselves if we think we can just arrest ourselves out of this situation," Shapiro said. "We need treatment."

Shapiro said efforts also have to be made to attack the supply chain and find ways to curb abuse of legal drugs. Noting many addicts start out abusing prescription drugs, Shapiro said it is time for pharmaceutical companies to share in the responsibility.

Dan Vogler, chairman of the county commissioners, said the session with Shapiro was fruitful and gave officials an idea what programs are out there. He said the county has been aggressive about battling the impact of the drug epidemic, but acknowledged the situation has put a strain on county resources.

"No one is immune," Vogler said. "It is not just a cities problem, it is a statewide problem."